Chien-Ming Wang (Chinese: 王建民; pinyin: Wáng Jiànmín; born March 31, 1980) is a Taiwanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Kansas City Royals. He also played for the Chinese Taipei national baseball team, and is the current assistant pitching coach for CTBC Brothers.
Wang signed as an amateur free agent with the Yankees in 2000. After working his way up the Yankees' minor league system for several seasons, he made his MLB debut in 2005. With his hard sinker, he was one of the best starting pitchers for the Yankees in 2006 and 2007, winning 19 games in both seasons and leading the American League in that category in 2006. He suffered a foot injury in 2008 that limited his appearances and effectiveness, and a series of arm injuries cost him most of the 2009 season and all of 2010. Wang returned to major leagues with the Washington Nationals in 2011, starting 21 games over two seasons while again spending time on the disabled list. He signed with the Yankees in 2013 but was released without pitching in the major leagues, then signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and made six starts with limited effectiveness. He pitched for minor league teams in several organizations in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, he returned to the major leagues as a relief pitcher with the Kansas City Royals.
Wang was the third major leaguer from Taiwan, following Dodgers outfielder Chin-Feng Chen, and Rockies pitcher Chin-Hui Tsao.
Wang rose through the New York Yankees' minor league system, including the Single-A Staten Island Yankees, who retired his #41 in 2006. Wang posted a 1.75 ERA for Staten Island, second-lowest in franchise history. He played for the World Team in the All-Star Futures Game in 2003. In 2005, Wang was called up from the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. In 2013, Wang came back to the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Wang made his MLB debut on April 30, 2005, against the Toronto Blue Jays, pitching seven strong innings while allowing only two earned runs. He earned a no-decision in the Yankees' 4–3 win. Wang pitched in 18 games, though an injury kept him sidelined for part of the season. He went 8–5 with an earned run average of 4.02. On September 19, 2005, Wang tied a record for assists in a game by a pitcher with nine. In the playoffs against the Angels, Wang pitched 62⁄3 innings and allowed four runs, only one of which was earned. The Yankees lost the game and the series.
In 2006, Wang won 19 games (tied for the most in the majors along with Johan Santana) and posted a 3.63 ERA in 218 innings across 34 games (33 starts). He picked up his first save on June 3 against the Baltimore Orioles in his only non-starting appearance. Wang also threw two complete games, though the first, on June 18, was bittersweet: against the Washington Nationals, he allowed a one-out, two-run, walk-off home run by Ryan Zimmerman to lose the game 3–2. His first complete-game win was on July 28, 2006, a two-hit, 6–0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium. In his next start, he threw eight shutout innings against the Toronto Blue Jays, in which he got an outstanding 16 ground ball outs. Wang was particularly strong in the second half of the season, winning 10 of his 14 starts and posting a 3.13 ERA in 92 innings. He was selected to start the first game of the Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, earning the win as the Yankees beat Detroit 8–4.
Overall in 2006, Wang limited batters to a .211 batting average while games were tied, and a .205 batting average in games that were late and close. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays batted just .159 against him, losing three out of four games to the Yankees that Wang pitched. Wang was effective despite the lowest strikeout rate in the majors (3.14 strikeouts per nine innings and 76 strikeouts overall), thanks in part to his allowing the fewest home runs per nine innings (0.5; he allowed just 12 home runs overall). Wang also led the league in ground ball percentage (62.8%) and obtained 2.84 groundouts for every fly ball out.
At the end of the season, Wang finished second to Johan Santana in voting for the Cy Young Award. Wang collected 15 second-place votes, and 51 points. He also received a ninth-place vote, good for two points, in the AL MVP balloting, won by Justin Morneau. In MLB.com's This Year in Baseball Awards, he was chosen as the top starter in 2006 season with more than 47% of the fan vote.
Wang began the 2007 season on the disabled list, having injured his right hamstring during spring training. He returned on April 24 against Tampa Bay. On May 5, 2007, Wang pitched 71⁄3 perfect innings before giving up a home run to Ben Broussard of the Seattle Mariners, falling five outs short of a perfect game.
On June 17, 2007, Wang had a superb outing versus the New York Mets, in which he threw 113 pitches through 8 and 2/3 innings, notched 10 strikeouts (a career high) and gave up just two runs on six hits. On August 30, Wang took a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox into the seventh inning before giving up a single to Mike Lowell. Rookies Joba Chamberlain and Edwar Ramírez finished the two-hitter, and the Yankees beat the Red Sox 5–0.
In 2007, Wang was second in the AL in wins (19), third for the second straight year in win–loss percentage (.731), ninth in wild pitches (9), and 10th in hit batsmen (8). He had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. He also had the lowest HR/9 innings pitched ratio in the AL (0.41; in 199+1⁄3 innings he allowed just nine home runs), was third in GB% (58.5%) and GB/FB (2.51), and had the fifth-lowest strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (4.70, and 104 strikeouts overall).
Despite his regular season performance, Wang faltered in the 2007 postseason. In the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Indians, Wang started two games, earning the loss in both appearances. He pitched a combined 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up 12 earned runs, for a postseason ERA of 19.06. The Yankees lost the ALDS in four games.
The beginning of the 2008 season saw Wang at the top of the Yankees rotation and the ace with veterans Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte. In the final Yankee Stadium season opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, Wang pitched 7.0 innings, allowing only two runs and picking up his first win of the season. In his first start against the Boston Red Sox in 2008, he pitched a one-run, two-hit complete game.
On April 22, 2008, Wang recorded a win against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The victory, in Wang's 85th career start, made him the fastest Major Leaguer to record 50 wins as a starter since Dwight Gooden, who won his 50th game in his 82nd start on June 29, 1986, at Chicago for the New York Mets. Wang also became the quickest Yankee to 50 wins since Ron Guidry, who accomplished this in his 82nd start.
Wang finished April with a perfect 5–0 record, leading the American League along with Joe Saunders. On May 2, Wang became the first six-game winner in the American League with a win over the Seattle Mariners with just one earned run over six innings. On May 8, Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians beat Wang 3–0, handing Wang his first loss of the season. During this loss, Wang allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings. On June 10, after going six starts with two losses and four no decisions since May 2, Wang defeated the Oakland Athletics 3–1 to end the longest victory drought of his career. Through 2008, Wang had the third highest winning percentage of all starting pitchers over the last three years (46–15, .754).
On June 15, Wang was taken out of an interleague game versus the Houston Astros due to a right foot injury he sustained while running the bases, something he was not used to doing, since pitchers do not bat in the American League. Wang was diagnosed with a torn Lisfranc ligament of the right foot and a partial tear of the peroneus longus of the right foot. Despite not requiring surgery, he was on crutches and wearing a protective boot. The cast was removed on July 29, but the extensive rehabilitation process prevented Wang from pitching for the remainder of the season. Yankees' part-owner Hank Steinbrenner showed frustration with pitchers having to bat in the National League and suggested that the League "join the modern age". On December 22, 2008, Wang and the New York Yankees avoided salary arbitration when they agreed to a $5 million, one-year contract. Wang made $4 million in the 2008 season after losing in salary arbitration. He had asked for $4.6 million.